Aversion
by purplerayz
Summary: Danny has a strange aversion to things being removed from his body, even if they don't belong there. Based off scenes from 3x10 and 4x19.


**This is based off of scenes from episodes 3x10 and 4x19.**

* * *

Danny blinked. He was dazed and a bit confused. He was laying on the ground on his side, but he couldn't quite figure out exactly how he had ended up that way. He blinked again, trying to clear the blurriness that hung just on the edge of his vision. His hand was laying limply in front of him. He flexed it curiously, relieved to find it easy to move. The rest of him, however, seemed intent on remaining perfectly still.

He could see shards of glass scattered all over the floor in front of him. And as he shifted his head, he was rewarded with a sharp sting that told him the glass was underneath him as well. He wasn't sure where it had all come from.

As he felt someone grabbing at his right hip, he instinctively knew he needed to move. He moved his own hand to his hip, but his movements were too slow, just a little too late, and his gun was already gone from its holster.

Someone grasped the back collar of his shirt, the action nearly choking him as the front of his shirt rose to his neck. The floor shifted suddenly, and Danny's stomach lurched as he was pulled forcefully to his feet. He began to sway, but an arm snaked tightly around his chest, holding him in place. The cold metal barrel of what Danny realized to be his own gun found its way to the side of his head.

There was a sudden burst of yelling, and Danny finally looked up to find Steve standing several feet in front of him. He looked pissed. Steve had his gun out, both hands holding it steadily, pointing it directly at him. No, not at him, Danny told himself. At the bastard standing behind him, using him as a human shield.

As Danny took a moment to glance around, he was finally able to piece together what had happened. His sluggish thoughts were finally catching up to him. The shattered glass had come from what used to be a large storefront window. His own body had been what had broken it. He'd been caught off guard, unaware that there was even a nearby threat. He remembered feeling the air knocked out of him as he was tackled, the force of the hit sending him and his new 'friend' right through the window.

He winced as the gun was pressed harder against his already throbbing head. When he opened his eyes again, he looked up at Steve. He only met his eyes for a brief moment, but it was still enough to see that he was ready to lower his weapon in defeat. On hand, Danny wanted to tell Steve to just shoot the bastard, but he knew Steve wasn't willing to risk it. But on the other hand, Danny was grateful, because quite frankly, he didn't want to get shot today.

Slowly, Steve lowered his gun and placed it on the floor before rising back to his feet.

"Over there!" the man behind Danny barked right by his ear.

Steve glanced at Danny before obeying and began walking through the empty building. Danny found himself being pushed to follow, while the man's grip on him never faltered.

"Get in."

They had reached a set of double doors near the back of the store, and Steve hesitated only for a moment before pulling the doors open and taking a few cautious steps inside.

"Throw back your phone."

Steve did as was told and tossed his phone. It landed next to Danny's feet, and the man behind him crushed it with his boot.

"Phone," the man repeated.

Danny was confused, wondering what he meant, seeing as Steve had already done as asked. It took him a moment until he realized that he was talking to him. He reached into his left pocket and could tell as he grasped his phone that it was already smashed from landing on his side. He dropped the useless device next to Steve's.

"Keys."

Steve reached into his other pocket and tossed over the keys to Danny's car.

"Up against the far wall."

Steve hesitated, turning back to look at Danny.

"Now!"

The man emphasized his point by pressing the gun harder against Danny's head, causing him to wince again. When he opened his eyes again, Steve was walking across the rest of the room, and he stood obediently by the far wall.

A sudden kick to the back of his knee, caused Danny to fall harshly to the floor with a grunt. A blur rushed past him a second later, and he knew it was Steve trying to reach the doors before they closed. The curses coming from behind him told him that he hadn't been quick enough.

As Steve continued his vain attempts to bust the door back open, Danny slowly got to his feet, using the shelf next to him as leverage. He looked around the room, figuring it must have been a storage room at some point. There were several sets of shelves, all empty, since the place had gone out of business awhile ago. There were no windows and no other doors.

Deciding to spare a moment to take stock of his injuries, he realized just about the whole left side of his body ached to some degree. That was the side that had broken through the glass window and the side he had landed harshly on. While nothing felt broken, he could feel several stings from cuts left by the glass. He knew he was also bleeding from the side of his head, but what worried him was the pain in his side that was really beginning to make its presence known. He looked down to the side of his torso, turning slightly so he could see the damage.

Danny paled. He closed his eyes, trying to rid himself of the image of several shards of glass protruding from his side. He held on to the shelf next to him to steady himself.

"Ah… uh…" Danny had a hard time finding his voice. "Ugh… Steve?"

Steve stopped banging on the door, likely hearing the panic in his voice, and was suddenly hovering a little too close right in front of him.

"Danny?"

Danny didn't answer. He dared a look back down at the shards poking out of his body. Blood was slowly seeping out around them. He could see at least four pieces, but he wasn't sure as his vision began to blur slightly.

"Here, sit down before you pass out."

"Not gonna pass out," Danny assured him, but found himself accepting Steve's help to sit on the floor anyway. He groaned at the shift in position and leaned back against the shelf behind him.

"Let me see."

Danny slowly lifted his left arm to allow Steve a better look at his side. Steve turned and glanced around the room before reaching in his pocket to retrieve a small knife.

"What are you doing?" Danny asked as Steve shifted and began to slice through the bottom of his own pant leg.

"We need to take the glass out."

"What?" Danny blanched at the thought. He started to feel a bit panicked. "No. No we don't! Let's just leave it in for now!"

"We're gonna be here awhile, Danny," Steve told him. "I think he put something in the door handles. I can't get it to budge. It will be at least an hour before anyone realizes we're missing, and they won't be able to track our phones, and your car is probably gone front out front. They'll have no idea where to start their search, so we'll be here awhile," he repeated. "The glass needs to come out."

Danny had to admit that Steve was probably right. He looked down again to his side and took a deep breath. "Okay," he finally agreed.

"Lay down. It'll be easier."

Danny groaned as he moved to lay on his right side and lifted his arm out of the way. Once he was situated, Steve used his knife to cut his shirt away from the area.

"Are you ready?" Steve asked.

"No."

"Relax, Danny," Steve encouraged as he moved his hands to Danny's side.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait," Danny brought his arm back down, effectively blocking Steve from touching the glass.

"Calm down, Danny. Don't you trust me?"

"Don't I trust you?" Danny repeated, his voice starting to rise. "Of course I trust you! Doesn't mean I want you playing doctor on me and pulling stuff out of my body! I would rather you leave it in, thank you very much!" Danny took another deep breath, attempting to calm himself.

"You done?" Steve finally asked.

Danny sighed. "Yeah, I'm done."

"Good. Now are you going to let me do this or not?"

"You sure we have to?" Danny asked in one last vain attempt.

"Danny…"

"Alright," Danny finally caved, moving his arm back up and allowing Steve access to his side. "Just… just get it over with."

Danny closed his eyes, not keen on watching the glass be removed from his body. He gritted his teeth as Steve began to pull the shards out. Each one sent a sharp pang through his side, each one hurting a bit more than the last.

"Just breathe, Danny."

Danny let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. As Steve continued, it dawned on Danny that he had been working his way from smallest to largest, and that was why each one seemed to hurt a little more.

"Just one more," Steve finally said, but it didn't help Danny's unease any because he knew it would hurt more than the last one.

A painful groan ripped from Danny's throat as he felt the last piece of glass being pulled out.

"Shit!" Steve swore.

Danny's eyes shot open, and he lifted his head. "What? What's wrong?" He tried to look, but Steve's arm was blocking his view. He groaned again as Steve pressed the cut up cloth hard against his side.

"Nothing. It's fine."

"Nothing?" Danny balked. "You can't swear like that, and then tell me _nothing is wrong!_ "

"It's fine, Danny," Steve repeated. "That one was just a little deeper than I thought."

"Just a little…" Danny frustratingly gave up on trying to see what was going on and laid his head back down. "I told you we should have just left it in! Now I'm gonna bleed out... stuck in this room with you… not how I wanted to go..."

"Relax, you're not going to bleed out."

"Easy for you to say," Danny muttered under his breath. "You're not the one bleeding."

"You'll be fine. Just try not to move too much. Here, keep the pressure on this."

Steve guided his hand to where the makeshift bandage was on his side. Danny held the bandage in place as Steve got up to try his hand at opening the door again.

"How we doing, Danny?"

Danny jumped when he felt Steve's hand on his shoulder. He hadn't even noticed Steve was back at his side.

"How am I doing?" Danny repeated. "Awesome."

Steve leaned back, letting go of his shoulder. "Seriously, Danny."

"My side is killing me, thanks to you. It felt better before you pulled everything out."

"How's your head?"

Danny was confused at the sudden concern. "My head? Please tell I don't have glass protruding from there, too."

"Nah, but you've got a couple of cuts. Looks like they stopped bleeding, though. Headache? Dizziness?"

"My head just broke a glass window. What do you think?" Danny couldn't help the snarky reply, even knowing Steve was just trying to gauge his condition.

Steve didn't answer, and the two of them remained silent for quite some time.

"Steve?" Danny finally asked, his voice quiet. He wasn't sure how much time had passed since they had said anything. He realized he could no longer hide the fact that his hands were beginning to tremble. He was feeling more lightheaded as well.

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind taking over?" Danny asked, referring to holding the bandage at his side. "I think… I think might pass out now…"

"Danny?"

Danny had suddenly felt exhausted. He blinked, seeing Steve hovering worriedly over him.

"'m alright," Danny tried to assure him, but his words came out slurred. Letting his eyes fall close was probably a mistake, but he was too tired to care.

* * *

Danny blinked. He felt oddly comfortable. There was only a dull ache in his side, and his head no longer hurt. He moved his hand toward his side curiously, feeling thick bandages beneath his clothing.

"Leave it."

Danny looked up as a figure moved closer towards him. As his sluggish mind began to catch up to him, he realized he was in a hospital room.

"Steve?" Danny asked.

"Hey," Steve greeted him with a warm smile, leaning against the railing of his bed. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm not dead?" Danny asked.

"No," Steve chuckled. "I told you you wouldn't bleed out."

Danny shifted so he was sitting up further in the bed. "What happened?"

"You mean before or after you scared me half to death?"

Danny looked at Steve. Clearly he had worried him when he had passed out. "After, I guess."

"We lucked out. Chin happened to see your car, and when he saw we weren't in it, he pulled the car over and got the guy to tell him where we were. They found us about a half hour after you had passed out. Doc says you've got a minor concussion and a lot of stitches, but you'll be up again in no time."

"Okay," Danny relaxed tiredly back into the bed. "But not now."

"Yeah. Not now. Just get some rest, Danny."

"Okay," Danny agreed as he closed his eyes. "But next time… will you listen to me… and just leave it in?"

Danny began to drift back to sleep as he heard Steve's soft chuckle and reply.

"We'll see."


End file.
